Mark Madoff, 46, Kills Himself

In December 2008, after Bernard Madoff finally informed his oblivious sons that the legendary family investment fund was nothing more than a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, all kinds of people were quick to call it a tragedy—even, grandly, “a tragedy of epic proportions.” Lots of people, including some old and feeble individuals and some important and well-known charities, were bankrupted, which was upsetting, and at least two high-profile investors took their own lives in the immediate aftermath. But, fundamentally it was really just a sad morality tale about people’s blind faith in the face of lots of cash.

That changed on Saturday, when Madoff’s elder son, 46-year-old Mark, was found hanging by a dog leash from a ceiling pipe in his SoHo loft, on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest and in the shadow of new lawsuits filed against the extended Madoff clan. The death, which the medical examiners quickly ruled a suicide, propelled the scandal into the realm of Greek tragedy—because it has now visited misfortune on one of the only members of the family to be definitively innocent in the mess: Mark Madoff’s two-year-old son, Nick, was peacefully asleep in the apartment where his father killed himself.

In the predawn hours, Mark sent emails to his wife—who was vacationing with their four-year-old at Disney World—telling her to “send someone to take care of Nick,” evidence that he knew exactly what he was risking: That his toddler, effectively left home alone, would wake up and come across the grisly scene himself.

Even if the boy, who reportedly slept through the whole thing, is too young to remember this weekend’s events, he’ll inevitably grow into a teenager and a young man left to struggle with a legacy not just of a grandfather but a father pathologically willing to make their own children their greatest victims.

WAIT, WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY TO COMMENT?
Tablet is committed to bringing you the best, smartest, most enlightening and entertaining reporting and writing on Jewish life, all free of charge. We take pride in our community of readers, and are thrilled that you choose to engage with us in a way that is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. But the Internet, for all of its wonders, poses challenges to civilized and constructive discussion, allowing vocal—and, often, anonymous—minorities to drag it down with invective (and worse). Starting today, then, we are asking people who'd like to post comments on the site to pay a nominal fee—less a paywall than a gesture of your own commitment to the cause of great conversation. All proceeds go to helping us bring you the ambitious journalism that brought you here in the first place.

I NEED TO BE HEARD! BUT I DONT WANT TO PAY.
Readers can still interact with us free of charge via Facebook, Twitter, and our other social media channels, or write to us at letters@tabletmag.com. Each week, we’ll select the best letters and publish them in a new letters to the editor feature on the Scroll.

We hope this new largely symbolic measure will help us create a more pleasant and cultivated environment for all of our readers, and, as always, we thank you deeply for your support.

This is such a tragedy, I feel very badly for the late Mark Madoff, and his wife and children. He couldn’t deal with the pressures and ended his life.

Alansays:

December 13, 2010 - 7:48 pm

What a horrible tragedy…It is unfortunate that Mark Madoff didn’t have any real friends ready to help him in his darkest hours…He must have grown up in a toxic environment..We don’t know what kind of threats to his family he had to deal with on a daily basis..We don’t know what was running through his brain, all we do know is that people who think money is the most important thing in the world better wake up…None of us have the right to pass judgement that is Gd’s job…What Mark Madoff did was absolutely horrendous, but for him to carry out the act of taking his own life means one thing, he was very disturbed, and was lacking support from people when he really needed it…

Erinsays:

December 13, 2010 - 9:44 pm

I am not sure that Mark Madoff knew anything at all about the scheme. I believe he should have known where his money was coming from, but through ignorance and blind faith in his father, he really could have been completely innocent. Others have taken their lives over this mess and countless lives destroyed. How much was going to be enough for Bernie Madoff? How many homes and boats and cars would it have taken for him to stop? I just don’t understand any of it.

I have to utilize the skill level as to to thank owners for an commercial plan We now have often celebrated visiting the website. We’re planning on the seller’s graduation on simple secondary education investigate while the whole placement of feet would not have been completely ultimate owning on to the site your blog site. House is often of a some, I’ll be grateful on the way to in what I’ve educated from this level.

I have to consider the option created by to thank for you to get the successful advice I’ve got sometimes cherished examining your websites. We’re awaiting the precise graduation connected some university or search for wide foot placement could not had been perform without any following to the site your blog post. Easily should be of a typical easily a few, I’ll be grateful to assist in what We have discovered came from here.

I have to have knack of the to thank then you for ones knowledgeable information Regarding many times were pleased with studying the sites. We’re getting excited about this start because of brand new higher education lookup and therefore total ground moves wouldn’t have always been carry out without the benefit of turning up to the site your blog post. When i are of a typical assistance other places, I am pleased to of what I actually have learned how from this point.

Name (required)Email (required, will not be published)Website (optional)

Message

2000

Your comment may be no longer than 2,000 characters, approximately 400 words. HTML tags are not permitted, nor are more than two URLs per comment. We reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments.